# How to pack flake tobacco?



## Kenny_Jo (Dec 14, 2011)

Hi everyone.
I have made a tiny mistake today....
I went to my local tobacco shop and saw they had some Samuel Gawith pipe tobacco in stock.
According to what I saw online (nearly all Samuel Gawith tobacco are sold out!!) and those review on tobaccoreviews, 
I decided to buy one and give it a try (Samuel Gawith Chocolate FLAKE).

The problem is, I bought the flake tobacco and I have no idea how to pack it....
Should I just rip it and make it looks like those ribbon cut tobacco and pack?
Or there are some better method to pack it?

Btw, I just received the pipe that I bought from ebay.
It claimed that is a Tracy Mincer pipe.
Anyone knows anything about "Tracy Mincer"?

Thanks


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Tracy Mincer!? Big time pipe maker. I knew his brother when I was at UVa, when he ran Mincer's Pipe Shop, back in the early 60s. Photos! Photos! 

As for the Chocolate Flake, you got some good tobacco there, Laddybuck. (If you don't like it, send it to me for disposal, okay? :lol

Ordinarily, I'd suggest a musketball, but the SG flakes are pretty thick and don't musketball well. Neither do they fold and stuff as well as some others, so you're sort of stuck with rubbing it out, ie, "...rip it and make it looks like those ribbon cut tobacco and pack." :tu Might give a few minutes on the plate to dry a little after you rub it out, depending on the moisture levle. Put the bigger pieces on the bottom and the finer stuff on the top. This happens naturally, actually, as you pick it up and drop it in the pipe, since you pick up the big pieces the easiest.

Looks like you're moving right along there, Kenny!


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## Nachman (Oct 16, 2010)

Take the flake and hold it like a cigarette paper, then fold it in half the long way. Fold it in half again then roll it between your fingers so it loosens up the threads of tobacco that make up the flake. Then fold it in half the other way and slide it into a pipe with the rough end up and the folded end down. Push down hard until you have a pretty level top to the tobacco. It might be a little hard to get lit and take a few tries, but once it is burning it will stay lit pretty well. Or you could just tear it up in little pieces and pretend it is a ribbon. PS: you might need to dry it just a little before you either fold and stuff or rub it out.


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## Commander Quan (May 6, 2003)

The nice thing about flakes is you can use them many different ways, and not every way will give you your preferred result, so you'll have to play around with it and see what you like. 

The first thing you need to know is you have to let that tobacco dry. This goes for SG stuff in general, but the chocolate flake especially ships wet. 

The easiest thing to do is take a flake and pull it apart into 4 or 5 pieces and rub them around in the palm of your hands till you get a consistency you like. Some tobacco's I like chunkier and a quick rub is all you need, others like 1792 I prefer to rub out almost into a shag. This method is packed pretty much like normal.

You can also get a pair of scissors and cube cut it, pull the tobacco into long thin pieces, and with a sharp pair of scissors cut the tobacco across the grain into squares approximately 1/8 of an inch. When you fill the pipe with this method gravity filling works best with a light tamp at the end to compress the top layer.

Lastly you can do a fold and twist, fold the tobacco in half length wise, and then bend it in half across the grain, and give it a light twist. and insert it folded side first into the pipe. The goal is the folded part of the flake is loose enough to give you proper draw, so don't fold it tight. You'll have to play around with how much of a flake you actually need to start with to get the correct fill, and for shallow pipes will have to cut some of it off so it doesn't stick out the top. This method is harder to get the tobacco to stay lit initially, but once it starts burning it has a tendency to stay lit.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Nick is describing the fold and stuff and it really is fine with Chocolate Flake, just a bit harder than with Luxury Navy Flake or similar thin-threaded flake. You can handle it, Kenny! :tu


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## indigosmoke (Sep 1, 2009)

Here's a video that will give you some help with flakes:






Several other good videos on flakes (and loading a pipe in general) can be found here:

Filling the pipe - YouTube


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## Kenny_Jo (Dec 14, 2011)

Thanks Nachman.
I think I kind of get the method...
Is that just like folding a paper and stuff it into the bowl?

To freestoke

I cannot find the SG tobacco in stock online and that's why I think it should worth a try when I saw it in my local store. 
I think I should consider myself luck since I can find that in my local store (and also lots of help from this forum).

And for the pipe. According to what you said, it seems I made a very good purchase.
Although the condition of the pipe doesn't like from 60s (It looks very nice, like brand new condition)..









Here is what in the item description:
Tracy Mincer was the original owner of "Custombilt" pipes and after he sold the company, he continued to make pipes under his own name and here is a uniquely shaped freehand with "Tracy Mincer" clearly marked on the bottom of the pipe. This pipe has a silver-colored lucite stem with no tooth marks.

I really like that pipe. And if this is really a great pipe, the price I paid for it ($25 include shipping) may be considered as a steal...
No matter what, I like the pipe~~


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Kenny_Jo said:


> I really like that pipe. And if this is really a great pipe, the price I paid for it ($25 include shipping) may be considered as a steal...
> No matter what, I like the pipe~~


wow. sigh. Somebody call the cops! :spy:


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## Michigan_Moose (Oct 11, 2011)

Send the flake and pipe to me, i will make sure you dont get into trouble over this.


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## Kenny_Jo (Dec 14, 2011)

Michigan_Moose said:


> Send the flake and pipe to me, i will make sure you dont get into trouble over this.


From this I believe I have made 2 great purchase~~LoL

Thanks everyone.
I am enjoying the flake with my new pipe.
Better than I imagine.
But I find the flake is harder to light compare to those ribbon cut tobacco.
Is that normal?


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## mmiller (Nov 17, 2011)

Kenny_Jo said:


> From this I believe I have made 2 great purchase~~LoL
> 
> Thanks everyone.
> I am enjoying the flake with my new pipe.
> ...


It usually a bit harder to light, put small crumbs of the flake on top and it makes lighting a whole lot easier.


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